Credit: Jesse Scott
Well, this is awkward.
According to WalletHub’s freshly dropped Safest Cities in America 2025 report, Fort Lauderdale is apparently living life on the edge — and not in the cool, beachy kind of way we all think. Out of 182 cities, our fair Venice of America came in at a truly humbling... number 177. This makes us the 6th most dangerous city in the country. Cue the collective gasp from the Intracoastal.
The breakdown is equally painful: number 166 in home and community safety (lock those doors), number 174 in natural disaster risk (storm shutters, anyone?) and number 178 in financial safety (because that waterfront mortgage ain’t paying itself). Somehow, cities like Philadelphia, Oakland and Chicago all managed to edge us out in the safety department which, sorry to all of these cities, feels like the ultimate civic insult.
Meanwhile, Pembroke Pines is over there quietly polishing its halo at number 85, Miami slides in at number 113 and Hialeah sits pretty at number 57.
So, congratulations, Fort Lauderdale. You’ve officially made the list… just not the one we wanted. We’ll take this list with a grain of salt(water) for sure.
For more on the rankings (and a reminder that we should probably stop leaving our keys in the golf cart), visit WalletHub.com.
